Hours at Minimum Wage Needed to Afford Rent

The following map has been floating around the cloud for at least a week or so now and I’m so disgusted by what it shows that I just had to share it here. It lists, on a state-by-state basis, how many hours a week you need to work making minimum wage in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market prices. In my home state of Wisconsin, for example, one needs to work at least 79 hours a week at minimum wage simple to afford rent. That works out to over 11 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the best case scenario, you would only have to work 68 hours per week in New Mexico to make rent. Worst case scenario? In Washington DC a minimum wage earner has to work 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. Minimum wage has long been a political sticking point, but this really makes it crystal clear that the “cost of living” increases to minimum wage over the years do not actually cover the cost of living. Politicians, take note.